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Music Friday: We All Run for ‘Gold and Rust, for Diamonds and Dust’ in OneRepublic’s ‘Love Runs Out’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you hit songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today’s featured tune is plucked from the #6 spot on the current Billboard Top 40 Adult Pop Songs list. It’s “Love Runs Out” by OneRepublic.

In this song about fighting to make a relationship work, frontman Ryan Tedder lays out all the obstacles he and his girlfriend will overcome to “work it out ‘til the loves runs out.”

About 2:15 into the song, the high-powered chorus transitions to a slower, moody bridge, where Tedder contrasts diamonds with dust and gold with rust to explain what stokes the fire in all of us. He sings, “Ooh, we all run for something. / Oh for God, for fate, / For love, for hate, / For gold, and rust, / For diamonds, and dust.”

“Love Runs Out” is the fifth single released from OneRepublic’s wildly successful third studio album, Native. The album made its debut in 2013 and has been on the Billboard 200 Album chart for 77 weeks, having peaked at #4.

Despite its great success, “Love Runs Out” was never intended to be the fifth release of the album. It was supposed to be the lead single. Tedder told digitalspy.com that he liked “Love Runs Out” as much the band’s chart-topping hit, “Counting Stars.”

But there was a snag. The band was having trouble perfecting the chorus and the song had to be put on hold.

Tedder told Capitol FM, “The very short back story on the song was when we were working on Native I originally thought [“Love Runs Out”] was going to be the first. I wanted it to be the first single, a few of us in the band did, but I could not finish the chorus. And you can’t have a song without a chorus.”

“Love Runs Out” will get a boost when it’s featured on the soundtrack for the video game “NBA 2K15.”

At the end of this post you can check out the gorgeous official video for OneRepublic’s “Love Runs Out.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

I’ll be your light, your match, your burning sun,
I’ll be the bright and black that’s making you run.
And I feel alright, and we’ll feel alright,
‘Cause we’ll work it out, yeah we’ll work it out.
I’ll be doin’ this, if you ever doubt,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.

I’ll be your ghost, your game, your stadium.
I’ll be your 50,000 clapping like one.
And I feel alright, and I feel alright,
‘Cause I worked it out, yeah I worked it out.
I’ll be doin’ this, if you ever doubt,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.

I got my mind made up and I can’t let go.
I’m killing every second ’til it saves my soul.
I’ll be running, I’ll be running,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.
And we’ll start a fire, and we’ll shut it down,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.

I got my mind made up and I can’t let go.
I’m killing every second ’til it saves my soul.
I’ll be running, I’ll be running,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.
And we’ll start a fire, and we’ll shut it down,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.

Ooh, we all want the same thing.
Ooh, we all run for something.
Oh for God, for fate,
For love, for hate,
For gold, and rust,
For diamonds, and dust.

I’ll be our light, your match, your burning sun,
I’ll be the bright and black that’s making you run.
I got my mind made up and I can’t let go.
I’m killing every second ’til it saves my soul.
I’ll be running, I’ll be running,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.
And we’ll start a fire, and we’ll shut it down,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.

I’ll be your light, your match, your burning sun,
I’ll be the bright and black that’s making you run.
And I feel alright, and we’ll feel alright,
‘Cause we’ll work it out, yeah we’ll work it out.
And we’ll start a fire, and we’ll shut it down,
‘Til the love runs out, ’til the love runs out.
‘Til the love runs out.